Malkin Holdings filed on Monday its plans to become a publicly traded real estate investment trust on the New York Stock Exchange with the landmark skyscraper and other New York area properties in its portfolio.

The expected range for the price of the Empire State Realty Trust shares was not set with Monday’s filing, which also did not disclose the target market capitalisation of the company.

The landmark 102-floor midtown Manhattan skyscraper – which was at one time the world’s tallest building – is owned by the Malkin family which gained day-today management of the property in 2002 and in full control over it in 2010. For years the property had been at the centre of legal wrangling between the family, property tycoon Donald Trump and the billionaire New York hotel owner Leona Helmsley.

“The Malkins have spent years consolidating control of the Empire State building and other assets. The IPO will allow them and their remaining partners to gain liquidity without relinquishing control,” said Ben Carlos Thypin, director of market analysis at Real Capital Analytics.

Ben Carlos Thypin

I am currently the co-founder of Quantierra, the world's first data driven real estate brokerage and investment manager. In my former life as Director of Market Analysis at Real Capital Analytics, I worked with press outlets large and small to provide them with great data and insightful commentary. Here are some of the results of this collaboration. For the rest, please check out the News Archive.